The following generally relates to systems and methods for securing a tube, such as a feeding tube, to a patient.
Patients who cannot take nutrition orally need another form of access to the gastrointestinal tract (GI). The following list are some of the potential situations where a person would not be able to eat normally: old age, disruption of the normal swallowing mechanism, neurologic diseases, cancers of the GI tract, prolonged ventilator dependence, trauma, stroke. For short term nourishment, tubes can be placed through the mouth or nose into the stomach or small bowel for feeding, however, this is a short-term solution. For longer access, tubes may be placed directly through the abdominal wall and into the stomach or jejunum (small bowel). These tubes can be placed via an open technique where an incision is made in the abdominal wall and the stomach or bowel is opened and the tube is placed directly into the lumen.
Still further, a feeding tube system, such as a Percutaneous Endoscopically placed Gastrostomy (PEG) tube system, can be used for this purpose. When such a system is used, an endoscope is placed down the esophagus and into the stomach. A needle is then placed through the abdominal wall into the stomach under direct visualization via the endoscope. Guide wires and dilators are then used to place a tube into the stomach. The tension of the tube holds the stomach against the abdominal wall and eventually a tract forms. Nutrition can then be instilled via the tube directly into the stomach. However, the complication rate for this procedure is high and the literature states that it is between 10-30%. Usually the complication is simply a wound infection, but not uncommonly the tube can become dislodged and spill the feeding material into the abdominal cavity resulting in catastrophic morbidity. Thus, currently known feeding tube systems are seen to be inadequate to prevent these complications because the bumper that is utilized with such currently known feeding tube systems allows the tube to slide. These complications not only result in increased patient morbidity and mortality, but also drastically increased medical costs.